Code perforating device



April 1970 A. M. MCINNIS 3,508,706

CODE PERFORATING DEVICE Filed Jan. 30, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet l IvvE/vToQ.

- www- April 28, 1970 A. M. M INNIS CODE PERFORATING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30, 1968 s s N e m we 5 R. w a

April 28, 1970 A. M. M INNIS 3,508,706

CODE PERFORATING DEVICE Filed Jan. 30, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ooooo oooQ 00000 0009 00000 0003 oooooooq fvvs/vroe.

United States Patent Office US. Cl. 234-100 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention concerns manually programmed apparatus operable to automatically punch coded holes in layers of material, such as a limited number of nondestructible cards, at rapid rates.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to code perforation of sheets or layers and more particularly concerns manually Operable apparatus for selectively code perforating or punching plastic cards.

In recent years nondestructible code-perforated sheets, such as plastic cards, have come into use for such applications as providing rapid automatic dialing input to telephone equipment. Such cards are typically punched at coded locations arranged in rows and columns corresponding to the hole sensing apparatus in the telephone equipment into which the card is to be inserted. The operation of manually punching holes in such cards is time consuming and expensive, so that attempts have been made to provide mechanism to automatically and rapidly punch the necessary holes; however, such equipment requires programming, is very expensive, and justifiable only when large quantities of coded cards are to be produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is a major object of the invention to provide quite simple and inexpensive manually programmed apparatus which is operable to automatically punch coded holes in nondestructible cards at much faster rates than heretofore made possible by hand operable mechanism, the invention also affording substantial reduction of errors. Accordingly, the improved apparatus of the invention is especially adapted for use when only a limited number of cards are to be code perforated. Such apparatus thereby makes economically possible the extension of use of such cards to many additional areas, as for example to computer input equipment for inventory control in manufacturing and the like.

Basically, the invention is embodied in a combination that comprises structure defining a zone to receive insertion of the card or layer of material; a group of.punches supported (as for example to define multiple rows and columns) to be selectively relatively displaced into the card zone; an encoding unit including multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondence to a sequence of alphanumeric characters, the unit being movable to bring the actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows; and means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to the punches in order to effect displacement into the zone of a punch or punches corresponding to the selected actuator or actuators.

Typically, the encoding unit may be mounted for rotation to be dialed in correspondence with the alphanumeric character to be code punched into the card by one or more punches in a selected row. For this purpose, the encoding unit may have circularly spaced, radially pro- 3,508,706 Patented Apr. 28, 1970 jecting elements respectively supporting different punch actuators, the elements and actuators thereon being defiectible when rotated into position opposite the punches. Also, means is provided to support the rotor for indexing relative advancement bodily generally parallel to the col umns defined by the punches, and for selectively holding the rotor in positions corresponding to the rows.

Further, the actuator displacing means may typically include a manually actuable linkage by which multipled force is transmissible to the actuator supporting elements, as for example to any element rotated into punch actuating position. That linkage may by way of illustration include a toggle having a part bodily movable with the rotor parallel to the columns defined by the punches, to transmit force to the rotor element brought into punch actuating position with respect to a selected row of punches.

Finally, operation of the punches in correct interrelation is assured by the provision of a stripper plate having lost motion connection with the punches to limit punch movement relative to the card zone; means to relatively displace the zone defining structure toward the stripper plate so that the punches may be positioned to selectively penetrate the card upon being displaced by the actuators, and spring means operable to urge the zone defining structure relatively away from the stripper plate for securing withdrawal of the punches from that card.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more fully understood from a consideration of the following description and drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one form of perforating apparatus incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 68 are enlarged fragmentary sections taken on elevation to illustrate details of the card punching operation; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating a card containing coded perforations in rows and columns.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 9, a thin plastic card 10 is shown as having through perforations 11 arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns. The perforations in successive rows typically represent a series of alphanumeric characters, as for example numbers, the arrangement of openings punched in each row represented a selected number in accordance with a predetermined code. Card 10 is representative of other layers of material such as metal, cardboard, etc., which may be code perforated in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGS. 1-8 illustrate one particularly advantageous form of apparatus operable to perforate the card 10, which is insertible into a zone 12 defined by certain structure of the apparatus. Such structure may typically include a horizontal die plate 13 recessed at 14, and an overlying horizontal punch guide plate 15 to which plate 13 may be attached. Guide pins 16 project vertically through the two plates, as shown with flanges 17 on the pins supporting the plate 13. The lower terminals of the pins are in turn supported on the earns 18 carried by a horizontal shaft 23. The latter is supported by frame side uprights 19 to be rotatable about an eccentric axis 24 in response to pivoting of the clamp lever 20. After loading of a card into zone 12, the lever 20 operable to effect lifting of the plates 13 and 15 to a position as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 in which sets 21 of Belleville washers are partly energized, at such time as the apparatus is to be operated. Note in this regard the upward spacing at 50 of the edge portion 15a of the plate 15 above shoulder 19a of upright 19.

Another element of the invention comprises a group of punches 28 supported for example to define multiple rows and columns. Merely as illustrative, the card shown in FIG. 9 contains selected holes punched in corresponding rows and columns. The punches are typically supported, as by the stripper plate 22, to be selectively displaced downwardly into the zone 11, as for example is clear from FIGS. 7 and 8. Pins 16 also project into openings in the plate 22 to maintain pin openings 25-27 in the various plates in vertical alignment. As a result, the punches 28 may have close guiding tolerance with corresponding openings 29-31 in the plates within which the punches are movable, for accurately locating the holes to be punched in the card.

As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, the stripper plate has lost motion connection with the punches, as afforded by punch flanges 33 and 34 spaced apart at opposite sides of the stripper plate and at a separation distance greater than the plate thickness. The upper flange 33 is positioned to seat on the top surface of the plate and hold the punches above zone 12 in FIG. 6 whereby a card may freely be inserted into the zone. Thereafter, when the lever 20 is operated and plates 13 and raised, the card displaces the punches upwardly relative to the plate 22, i.e., to FIG. 7 position, at the same time that the spring washers are energized.

When the punches are actuated, as will be described, they are depressed as by the actuator 52 as seen in FIG. 8, and the lower terminals of the punches penetrate the card to remove slugs 10a. Downward stroking of the punches is interrupted by engagement of flanges 33 with the top surface of the stripper plate. Thereafter, lever is released to allow lowering of the pins 16 and plates 13 and 15, as urged by the springs 21, the punches thereby being stripped free of the card 10. The frames 19 contain openings 50 receiving the lateral extremities of plates 15 and 22.

An important element of the invention concerns the provision of an encoding unit that includes multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondenceto a sequence of alphanumeric characters, the unit be ng movable to bring the actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows. One example of such a unit is the rotor 40 comprising hub 41 and disc 42 mounted for rotation by and with respect to the carriage plate 43. The latter is mounted by bracket 44 and shaft 45 to pivot about horizontal axis 46 toward the punches, in response to operation of a linkage 47, to be described. In this regard, the hub 41 projects above the plate 43 and is manually rotatable about generally vert cal axis 48 to any selected position corresponding to al1gn ment of an indicator 49 on the hub with one of the indicia 49a on the plate 43, as seen in FIG. 1. Such rotation of the hub brings a corresponding one of the radially projecting cantilever elements 51 of the disc 42 into aligned, overlying (or interposed) position with respect to a selected row of punches. That position is designated in X in FIG. 5.

Each of the radially projecting interposer elements 51 carries one or more punch actuators 52 having coded correspondence to one of the alphanumeric characters 49a so that when, for example, the indicator 49 is aligned with a 4, the actuators on the element 51 in actuating position X will actuate the correct combination of punches so as to produce a row of perforations in the card 10 with 4 coding.

A further important element of the invention comprises means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to a selected row of punches in order to effect displacement into the card zone of a corresponding punch or punches in the selected row. For this purpose, the plate 43 may carry a relatively narrow, radially extending projection 56 remaining in overlying relation to the interposed position X of the selected radial finger element 51 of disc 49. Accordingly, as the plate is pivoted toward the punches, projection 56 positively displaces the selected finger element 51 and its integral actuators toward and into actuating relation with the selected row of punches, as previously described in connection with FIGS. 7 and 8. Other radial elements 51, while they may be carried toward the punches, will be deflected back toward the plate at such time as the actuators on such other elements may come into engagement with punches will resist actuation due to their engagement with the card surface, the card construction being sufficiently heavy for resisting penetration of such other punches.

The actuator displacing means may also include the manually actuable linkage 47 previously mentioned. That linkage includes a lever arm 60 to which a handle 61 is attached, the arm being supported to pivot at 62. The linkage also includes a toggle 63 comprising link 64 attached to arm 60 and link 65 pivotally attached at 66 to link 64 and at 67 to a shaft 68. The latter shaft comprise another support for the carrier plate 43, and as is best seen in FIG. 2 the plate has slidable connection to shaft 68 via a slider block 69 integral with the plate, shaft 68 passing through an opening in the block. Accordingly, multiplied force may be transmitted to the plate 43 by the described linkage.

The plate 43, with its slidable mounting to parallel shafts 45 and 68, affords a means to support the rotor 40 for indexing relatively bodily advancement generally parallel to the column defined by the punches, and in the direction of arrow 70 in FIG. 5. The plate is urged in that direction by a tension spring 73, opposite ends of which are connected to the plate at 74 and to the frame at 75. On the other hand, displacement of the plate in direction 70 is resisted by an indexing means generally designated at 95, which operates to selectively hold the rotor 40 in positions corresponding to the rows defined by the punches. The indexing means may typically include shoulders or teeth 76 spaced laterally and carried on a member 77 on the plate in such manner that successive teeth are engageable by a stop projection 78 on a member 79 fixed against lateral movement relative to the frame. The members 77 and 79 are adjustable to effect interengagement of successive teeth 76 with the stop 78 in response to successive punch effecting operations of the linkage. Thus, a the plate 43 is swung downwardly, the stop is disengaged by a downwardly displaced tooth 76 just as the selected punches have been actuated to code perforate one row of a card 10. The plate 43 and toothed member 77 move laterally a small fraction of the tooth indexing increment and come to new lateral stop against stop 78 on member 74. One tooth 76 on member 77 is now disposed under the edge of member 79. As the arm 60 is raised, member 77 lift member 79 and permits member 77 to escape from engagement with 79 and spring 73 draws the upwardly pivoting plate 43 laterally a distance equivalent to the offset of successive rows of punches, i.e., equal to the offsetting of successive teeth 76. Accordingly, the stop 78 engages the next-in-linetooth 76 to locate position X a defined above over the next-in-sequence row of punches, with resultant desired indexing effect.

FIG. 1 also shows lateral guide shoulders on plate 13 and between which the card 10 is guided for insertion into the apparatus in the direction of arrow 91.

While in the desired embodiment of the invention the punches are arranged in columns and rows, it is also pos- I claim: 1. In apparatus to code-perforate a layer of material,

the combination comprising structure defining a zone to receive said layer,

a group of punches supported to define multiple rows and columns and to be selectively displaced into said zone,

an encoding unit including multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondence to a sequence of alphanumeric characters, said unit being movable to bring said actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows,

means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to a selected row of punches in order to effect displacement into said zone of a corresponding punch or punches in said selected row,

and means for effecting indexing relative bodily translation of said zone and actuators so that successive portions of the layer may be punch deformed.

2. The combination of claim 1 including said layer in the form of a plastic card received in said zone.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said unit is 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said last named means includes a manually actuable linkage by which multiplied force is transmitted to said elements.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said unit comprises a rotor with said elements projecting radially.

6. In apparatus to code-perforate a layer of material,

the combination comprising structure defining a zone to receive said layer,

a group of punches supported to define multiple rows and columns and to be selectively displaced into said zone,

an encoding unit including multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondence to a sequence of alphanumeric characters, said unit being movable to bring said actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows,

means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating osition with respect to a selected row of punches in order to effect displacement into said zone of a corresponding punch or punches in said selected row,

said unit comprising a rotor mounted for rotation and having circularly spaced radially projecting elements respectively supporting different punch actuators, said elements and the actuators thereon being deflectible when rotated into position opposite said punches,

and means supporting the rotor for indexing relative bodily advancement generally parallel to the columns defined by said punches and for selectively holding said rotor in positions corresponding to said rows.

7. In apparatus to code-perforate a layer of material,

the combination comprising structure defining a zone to receive said layer,

a group of punches supported to define multiple rows and columns and to be selectively displaced into said zone,

an encoding unit including multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondence to a se quence of alphanumeric characters, said unit being movable to bring said actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows,

means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to a selected row of punches in order to effect displacement into said Zone of a corresponding punch or punches in said selected row,

said unit comprising a rotor mounted for rotation and having circularly spaced radially projecting elements respectively supporting different punch actuators, said elements and the actuators thereon being deflectable when rotated into position opposite said punches,

a carrier for the rotor supported to deflect toward the punches, and a projection on the carrier projecting toward that selected rotor element which is brought into position overlying a selected row of punches, said projection adapted to transmit force to said selected rotor element in response to carrier deflection effected by manual actuation of said linkage.

8. In apparatus to code-perforate a layer of material,

the combination comprising structure defining a zone to receive said layer,

a group of punches supported to define multiple rows and columns and to be selectively displaced into said zone,

an encoding unit including multiple punch actutors spaced apart to have coded corerspondence to a sequence of alphanumeric characters, said unit being movable to bring said actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows,

and means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to a selected row of punches in order to effect displacement into said zone of a corresponding punch or punches in said selected row,

said unit comprising a rotor mounted for rotation and having circularly spaced radially projecting elements respectively supporting different punch actuators, said elements and the actuators thereon being deflectible when rotated into position opposite the punches,

said last named means including a manually actuable linkage by which multiplied force is transmitted to said elements, said linkage including a toggle having a part bodily movable with the rotor to transmit force to the rotor element brought into selected position with respect to a selected row.

9. In apparatus to code-perforate a layer of material,

the combination comprising structure defining a zone to receive said layer,

a group of punches supported to define multiple rows and columns and to be selectively displaced into said zone,

an encoding unit including multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondence to a sequence of alphanumeric characters, said unit being movable to bring said actuators selectively into actuating position with respect to the punches in selected rows,

means to effect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to a selected row of punches in order to effect displacement into said zone of a corresponding punch or punches in said selected row,

said unit being mounted for rotation and having circularly spaced elements respectively supporting different punch actuators, said elements and the actuators thereon being deflectible when rotated into position opposite said punches, said last named means including a manually actuable linkage by which multiplied force is transmitted to said elements,

a stripper plate having lost motion connection with the punches to limit punch movement relative to said zone, means to relatively displace said zone defining structure toward the stripper plate so that the punches may be positioned to selectively penetrate said layer upon being displaced by said actuators, and spring means operable to urge said zone defining structure relatively away from the stripper plate for securing relative withdrawal of punches from said layer.

10. In apparatus to code-deform a layer of material,

the combination comprising structure defining a zone to receive said layer,

a group of punches supported for selective relative displacement into said zone for deforming said layer,

an encoding unit including multiple punch actuators spaced apart to have coded correspondence to a sequence of alphanumeric characters, said unit being movable to bring said actuators selectively into actuating positions with respect to the punches,

means to eifect displacement of a selected actuator or actuators brought into actuating position with respect to said punches in order to effect relative displace- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 422,728 3/1890 Clark 234100 1,274,302 7/1918 Maynes 234100 X 2,213,567 9/1940 Mills et a1. 234--100 X 3,063,622 11/1962 Nold 234100 3,278,117 10/1966 Post et a1 234-100 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,462 11/ 1868 Great Britain. 917,490 2/ 1963 Great Britain. 671,135 8/1929 France.

20 WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,508,706 April 28, 1970 Andrew M. Mclnnis It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 6, line 21, cancel "effected by manual actuation of said linkage".

Signed and sealed this 2nd day of March 1971 (SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER,

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

